Book Overview

Darcy Garcia and Peter Dale are at it again solving the biggest crime of their careers.

A long and explosive rapid-fire gunshot noise like long bursts from a machine gun was emanating from Peter’s phone filling the panic room as Sam reached in his back pocket bringing a hammer down hard on Peter’s phone smashing it to pieces.

The future of Los Angeles hangs in the balance. Can they figure out what will happen and when it will happen in enough time to stop it?

Pacific Book Review

In this heart-stopping thriller, author David Scott pulls out all the stops to take you on a wild ride through the gritty streets of Los Angeles.

Peter and Darcy have just gotten married, and everything seems almost too good to be true; after a romantic ceremony, the two enjoy an all-expenses paid honeymoon in Hawaii, and then settle into blissful domestic life. Soon the pair decides to go into business together, and although they realize that their dreams of becoming PI’s are unrealistic, they settle on calling themselves “private researchers.” To their delight, cases start rolling in after they move into their new office. After two successful but mundane cases, however, Peter and Darcy are beginning to get bored. But then they receive a very strange phone call that sends them on a race for their lives amidst a sinister conspiracy, the likes of which they have never seen before.

Sig Alert is a cross between a legal thriller and a hardboiled detective saga, with plenty of side characters to add to the complexity. The author successfully weaves today’s cutting-edge technology into the narrative, resulting in a story that is both timely and relevant. As the central characters slowly come to realize the dangerous reality of their situation, they must constantly navigate a modern world flooded with legal red-tape and censored protocol. This is where the author’s writing really shines; the scenes dealing with legal terminology and etiquette are described with a realistic immediacy that lends them an unexpected edge. Rather than push the reader through a series of convoluted plot twists and random diversions, the author lets things slowly brew under the surface while letting the reader work out the clues for themselves. This technique works best for stories as dynamic and vivid as this one.

I was impressed with the deeper layers of social commentary which were apparent throughout the book; namely, the continued suffering of those effected by PTSD. Sig Alert strives to give the reader a satisfying conspiracy thriller while reminding us of those who suffer, and often alone. It’s always refreshing to come across a book that offers more than just mindless popcorn action, which has a message of social commentary at its central core. As Peter and Darcy fight for their very lives in the cruel world of LA, they must also fight their own battles within, or else become swallowed by deeply rooted fears that will ruin any chance they have of solving the case.

For those who enjoy a tightly wound plot with ruthless villains and where trusting no one is the name of the game, this one’s for you.

Sig Alert
by David Scott
AuthorHouse

book review by Jordana Landsman

“’You must monitor freeway traffic. My sources tell me something will happen on the freeways in the middle of September.’”

If there is a hell on earth, southern Californians have a name for it: the freeway. There, at the convergence of too many interchanges and too many cars, despair festers as thousands huddle together, yet apart, stymied in their forward progress and cursed to sit, frustrated and immobile, atop the paved lanes. A ring of domestic terrorists might look upon the human misery of LA traffic and think their job was already done. Or, as private researchers Darcy and Peter Dale soon learn, the sadistic vision of mass murderers knows no bounds, and LA commuters are the perfect prey for their dastardly plans of vast upheaval and destruction.

The Dales know this, thanks to an anonymous tip, but they must undertake a race against time, resources, and external threats to identify and thwart the deadly plot. This is a tall order for a young couple that has exactly one—albeit a big one—case under their novice belts. They have only just hung up their professional shingle, not even qualifying for licenses as California private investigators when this case finds them.

Told from varying perspectives of the Dales’ meticulous investigative efforts and the perpetrators’ psychotic and excited planning of the impending attack, the tension builds effectively. In the proud tradition of Dashiell Hammett’s Nick and Nora Charles and television’s Hart to Hart, this heroic married duo bears the weight of their own mounting fear, even as they bravely and relentlessly research and think their way forward. The title of this second book in a series refers to the traffic notification system grumpily acknowledged and consulted by Los Angeles drivers. It’s never a good day to drive in Los Angeles, but thanks to Peter and Darcy, tomorrow might be another day of fine, predictable LA traffic.

This review was written by a professional book reviewer with no guarantee that it would receive a positive rating. Some authors pay a small fee to have a book reviewed, while others do not. All reviews are approximately half summary and half criticism. The US Review of Books is dedicated to providing fair and honest coverage to all books.